Pragmatism and Rivalry: The Nature of Turkey-Iran Relations, Fall 2013

This article examines the recent developments in Turkey-Iran relations. Over the last decade there has been an obvious rapprochement between the two countries. Ideological rivalry gave way to pragmatism, especially obvious in economic cooperation. However, the Arab Spring and particularly the civil war in Syria led to a deterioration of the relations between Turkey and Iran and revealed the fragility of this relationship, especially in terms of security and rival visions for the region. Iran’s newly elected moderate President Hassan Rouhani has already demonstrated that Iran is willing to cooperate with the West on several issues. For now it seems like Iran is switching from the hard line foreign policy of the Ahmadinejad era to a more cooperative stance, which most likely will affect Turkey-Iran relations in a positive way.

CONTRIBUTOR

Şafak Baş

This issue of TPQ takes up a myriad of issues that the Middle East is grappling with today: from protracted conflicts and the increasing complexity of proxy wars, to changing regional blocs and emerging powers. The Arab uprisings of 2011 remain an important fulcrum for the changing political landscape of the Middle East, and as many of our authors contend, the underlying problems and basic drivers...